THE National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) announced last week that two bird hunters have been arrested for breaching the Wildlife Protection Act, while several others have been issued warnings.

The arrests were made in St Elizabeth for hunting in a game reserve. The case will be heard in the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate’s Court on September 22, 2014. The warnings, meanwhile, were issued in the parishes of Trelawny, Clarendon and St Catherine.

The 2014 Game Bird Hunting Season opened three weeks ago, on Saturday, August 16, and will close on Sunday, 21 September.

Hunting sessions are: sunrise to 9:00 am and 2:30 pm to sunset on Saturdays; and sunrise to 9:00 am on Sundays.

The only birds that can be hunted during the season are the baldpate, the mourning dove (long-tailed pea dove), zenalda dove (pea dove), and white-winged dove.

Only 20 birds may be harvested per session, of which no more than 15 should be the baldpate.

Under the guidelines, the heads of all birds must be retained for inspection by NEPA officers or game wardens.

“NEPA is reminding the public that a licence is required to hunt during the season and that hunting in game reserves is strictly prohibited,” the State agency said in a release to the media.

The Game Bird Hunting Season is regulated under the Wildlife Protection Act. Those found in breach, that is, hunting without a hunter’s licence, hunting in game reserves, game sanctuaries and forest reserves, hunting outside of designated shooting periods, or hunting birds which are not designated game birds, as well as exceeding the bag limit can be fined up to $100,000 and or imprisoned.